Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876,
BY THE CAMPBELL PRINTING PRESS AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Campbell Press Print, Centennial Grounds, Philadelphia.

The Baldwin Library
& University
I of
Florida

S =I SEE! Here comes UNCLE JOHN, with COUSIN KATIE and
WILL! They have been to PHILADELPHIA, to see some kind
of a Show. PA says it is ever so big; and that all who can
get money to take them will go, if they have to go hungry
Small the rest of the year."
"I'd like to see the Show," said CARRIE; "but not if I had to lose
my dinner-would you, MARY?"
"Why, CARRIE, I would like to go ever so much! for Mr. SMITH says
we should all go, if we had to live on bread and water for a whole
year, to make up for it. You know he has been there, to put up his
new CHEESE PRESS; and he says that when he goes into the house
where it is, he is afraid he'll get lost among the posts--there are so
many of them. And then all around is just machines and posts, and
his Cheese Press; and corn, and wheat, and rye, and oats, and his
Cheese Press; and ever so many things besides his Cheese Press: and
he says the house is almost as big as his farm!
Oh dear, I can't tell you all he says! I just listen, and listen;
and if MOTHER would let me, I would stay up all night to hear him
'talk about it. UNCLE JOHN has gone in the house to tell MOTHER, I
suppose. Now, CARRIE, let us put up our dolls and wagons; and
\BENNY, you tie up the swing, and we'll go in and hear what they say.
\ "Oh, but won't that be nice! I do love to hear UNCLE JOHN tell
stories, and read about Fairies and Gypsies. May be he'll tell us a
story just as good about what he has seen at the Centennial."

Uncle Jyon's Centennial Story.

"UNCLE JOHN! Carrie, Mary, and I have come in to have you tell
us all. about the big Show at Philadelphia."
"Tell you ALL, Benny! Why, I'm too old. When I had told you
all, I would be white-headed, and you would be big men and women!
Oh no! you can't coax me into that. Let KATIE and WILL tell you
what they saw. That'll take a long time, and you'll be tired of hear-
ing about it, and go to sleep before they have told you half the story."
"Well, then, Willie, you tell us! We'll go into the sitting room,
and be ever so still!"
"I'm afraid to try," said Willie; "let Katie tell us. She saw more
than I did."
Oh no, Willie! I'll help you, if you'll only begin; for I don't
know how. There was no place to begin from, because there were so
many funny little gates that turned around to let one go in at, that I
couldn't tell when I was in or out; so you tell them how we lost our
dinner the first day, because there were so many people who wanted to
get something to eat, that they pushed us out. Katie always thinks of
her dinner," said Willie; "but I didn't mind losing mine, and forgot
all about it when I got where I could see the houses, or MAIN HALL, as
they call it there. It looks just like a long row of houses, ornamented
with steeples, as you will see by the picture on the opposite page.
"On the tops of the steeples are gold eagles; and there are ever so
many of them! There are some in the middle, and some at each end
- may be fifty, or more and they're as high as the top of a church
steeple. And then there are hundreds and hundreds of little flag-staffs,
with all-colored flags. Don't you see them in the picture ? Look! all
along the top, the sides are glass and wood. Just a little piece at the
bottom is made tight with boards, so you can't see through; and then
some posts are fixed up, to put the glass in. But everything is glass
and doors all around the HALL, as they call it.
"I thought it was a big house, when I looked at the outside; but
when I got inside, it seemed so much larger that I was almost afraid
to move, for fear I'd get lost. I stood looking, and thinking, and look-
ing; and when I turned round, Pa was gone! and sure enough I was
lost in the same room where Papa and Katie were; but I thought he
would find me pretty soon, and so I would just go along down a wide
street in the middle. You know we went in just after dinner. Well,
it took me all the afternoon to get back to where Pa lost me and I

A-

_IL- --;

WESTERN END OF MAIN HALL.
This Front is 464 feet wide, and 90 feet high. The length of this building is 1876 feet, and afords a floor pace of twen!y-one and one-half acres.

4 Uncle yohn's Centennial Story.

only walked down to the other end of the Hall, and back again and
there I found Pa waiting for me. I guess he had been lost too, only
he wouldn't tell. I heard a man say that over a thousand men in
uniform had gone in just after us, and I only saw one; and Pa said he
did'nt see .any. So he said it wouldn't be surprising if I did get lost
for a little while.
"I kept thinking all the time that I'd soon come to the end of the
little shops; but it was nothing but shops all the while. It looked as
if the fairies had gone in the night and taken down almost all the
houses and churches in New York, and swept up every bit of dirt, and
then slid all the things up close, and only left the streets as wide as a
man could step. There were store goods of every kind I'd ever seen, and
everything of every kind I ever saw in any house, or church, or store;
and hundreds and hundreds of things I never saw before, and can't tell
*what they're for. I looked around in the Main Hall, and all the time
I saw new things, and went through new walks.
"There were people of all colors there! -some white, and some yel-
low, like brass; and some like copper, almost; and some like coffee--
and they.had the funniest dresses! Some of the men looked as if they
were women. They were from all over the whole world, and talked all
kinds of languages. Some had little tables with their things on, and
some had glass-covered boxes; while some had nice places, just like
real houses. I came to one place with a high front, like a great
church, and I asked what it was. They said 'SPAIN.' So I thought I'd
go in and see; and when I got in, there was everything there that
comes from Spain. I couldn't tell you every little thing; but it was
full of all kinds of things; and some of them I should dearly like to
have brought home. Just look at the picture of it on the opposite page,
and tell me if you don't think it's pretty.
"When I got out of Spain, I went to JAPAN. This was a funny
house, and looked just like the pictures you see in the books. They
had ever so many things made of bamboo, and wood, and ivory, and
some of them were beautifully painted. They called it lacquered--we
call it Japanned, because the Japanese do so many things that way.
"Well, when I came out of Japan, I looked around, and saw such
a nice house! and when I went up to it, I found it was Norway. It
looked like a church covered all over with little steeples. There is a
picture of it on the sixth page.
"It had all kinds of things in it that are found in that country."

Uncle yohn's Centennial Story.

VIEW OF SPANISH DIVISION IN MAIN HALL.
Taken from a position near the centre of the Hall, looking west. In the distance is seen the Egyptian, Japanese, and South American divisions.

"Now, Willie, you have told all about Spain, and Japan, and Norway,
and everything, and never let Katie tell about what she saw. You
think you are all eyes, and we are all ears."

"Stop, stop, Carrie! Katie can talk; for my tongue is almost worn
out," said Willie.

"That's real good in you, Willie, to give me a chance to tell them
what I saw, because you went by my place."

"Oh yes! so I did, Katie. Up in the Tower, where-"

"Stop, Willie. Let Katie tell us that, and then you can go on; for
I could sit and hear you talk all day. It ain't a bit like Mr. SMITI;

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

for he only told us about his Cheese Press, and what this one said and
that one said about it; and then when he went to tell us about any-
thing else, he began with his Cheese Press, and stopped with his
Cheese Press; but I liked to hear all the other things he said -so I
just put my fingers in my ears when he began to talk about that.
Now you just wait, and let Katie tell us about the TOWER."

"I'm ever so much obliged to you, Mary; for I do think the
from the tower was worth climbing up so high to see. I'm not

sight
good

NORWEGIAN DIVISION, IN MAIN HALL.
(Referred to on p. 4.)

Taken from a position looking west, showing the southern Front.

at telling stories; so you mustn't laugh at me, if I don't tell them as
well as Willie does. Now, if you'll all promise to be still, I'll begin."

"We will! we will! go on!" they cried.

t I m

Uncle yohn's Centennial Story.

"Well, to begin, then; if you'll look in the middle of the picture of
the MAIN HALL, there's a high place. In this, on the inside, are four
great square towers, each one as big as a church, and much higher.
Just think! there are two hundred stair-steps to get to the top! When
I got up about fifty steps, I stopped to rest, and looked over the railing.
"You know, Carrie, you and I read the Arabian X,'ylt. last winter,
and we thought it was just splendid to read, but it wasn't true; but
now I know it was true, after that one look.
"And Benny, do you remember the book about Gypsies and Fairies
that we read ? Well, the story was nothing to the sight I saw there. It was
a long time before I could see anything but colors. After a while I
could see separate things close to me; but at the doors at each end
everything was all mixed up. A man looked like a little boy, and little
girls looked like real dolls walking about; and the whole place looked as
if alii,-,t all the houses had just been lifted up, and left all the things
standing, with the people running about.
"It was like a dream; and I kept looking to see if it was really
so, when Willie said, Katie, what's the matter with you ? and, sure
enough, I was feeling to see if I was awake. And don't you think
some of the folks laughed at me! But I didn't care if they did, for I
sItlpp1is 1 must have felt like the lady who stood beside me and said
she was 'overcome with emotion.' It must have been that, for I felt just
like she looked.
"I heard a gentleman say that the flags which hung all around the
room, showed where the things and people of each nation were to be
found. He said that some of almost all the nations of the earth were
before us, and that they were all at peace with each other now. Ain't
that nice! Just think of it! All the people of the world playing
'house' together, and bringing their best things to Philadelphia, and
putting them in here, to let us see them; and we bringing out our
very best things to show them--and then to be standing up there and
looking down on them all at once! Why, it was perfectly splendid !"
"Well, Katie, won't you tell us what all these things were brought
here for, and why our folks should build such a big house for them,
and make such a fuss about them on this particular year?" said Benny.
"We'll ask Papa to tell us, when he comes in. That'll be better,
because he knows all about it. But let me tell you what we saw
when we all went on top of the house, or Hall, as it is called. Willie
has- the names of all the buildings, and will show you how they stand

Uncle oiohn's Centennial Story.

all around us. See! he is making a picture of them on the slate;
and there, on the opposite page, is a MAP OF THE CENTENNIAL GROUNDS.
"The ENTRANCE GATE is marked A; and B is the RAILROAD DEPOT.
C is the MAIN HALL; and D the MACHINERY HALL. E is the JUDGES'
Hall; and F the ART GALLERY, or MEMORIAL HALL. This, and G- which
is the HORTICULTURAL HALL- will be left to stand when the Fair closes;
but all the rest will be torn down. H is the AGRICULTURAL HALL. I is
the LADIES' PAVILION. J is the C. T. A. U. FOUNTAIN OF AMERICA. K is
the funny JAPANESE House. L is the GOVERNMENT BUILDING. M is the
PRINTING OFFICE where this book is made, and where the most wonderful
Press in the world prints and folds newspapers faster than you can wink,
and where thousands of curious people are watching it, or else seeing
how all sorts of books and papers are made, from beginning to end. And
then, too, if you will look at the little square places, you will see there
are ever so many more houses. Then there are lakes, and paths,
and fountains, and arbors, and the funniest little RAILROAD with steam
cars, which goes where the lines run all around, carrying the people
about the Grounds.
"All the houses that I have not told the names of belong to differ-
ent people. Some of them are eating houses, and some are little facto-
ries, and others belong to some of the States, so they can show how
their schools are kept, and what grows in each particular State. And
then there are Glass Factories, and Saw-mills, and Gas-works, and I
couldn't tell you all what.
"This is a very good map of the place, and we'll keep it to look at
when we go through the halls and houses, to keep us from getting lost,
and to be a help to us when we tell you what there is in them, and
what they are all for, and to help us find out all about the great
picture Uncle John has brought, showing the whole of the Grounds as
they look from High Bank, east of the Schuylkill river.
"On looking around from where we stood, we could see into the
great city, and over the Park, and out into the country. There was
GEORGE'S HILL, and the WATER BASIN, which holds the water for the
people who live in the city. We could see the drives and Park roads
filled with carriages, and the nice paths all filled with people. When
we had looked all around, we came down again to the floor of the
Main Hall, and passed through among the people, until we came out
at the other end from where we went in.

,,~

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

"Pa said he felt as if he had made a trip around the world, because
he had seen and gone through the houses of so many countries. He
said they called it the Main Hall, because it had in it only the finished
goods, made to show how much better everything is done now than it
was a long time ago--a hundred years or more. The machines which
make these things are in MACHINERY HALL.
Now let us bid good-bye to the Main Hall, and have Willie tell us
about the other halls, and what is in them. We are now out of doors
once more; and, before we go any further, let us look around, and see
what we can see.
"Now think you are standing with me, with your back to the door,
and, looking to the left hand, you will see the people moving in and
out. This is one of the MAIN ENTRANCES. Those little houses are where
the Officers and Managers stay who take care of the place, and keep it
in order, and see that everything is done right.
"Over by the left side of the Machinery Hall, which is right before
us, is a large house. This is called the SHOE AND LEATHER BUILDING. In
this all the people interested in making shoes will show what they
have done. It is a private building.
"The house just in front of us is MACHINERY HALL. In there are al-
most all the different kinds of machines that are made in the world;
and they are all kept running round and round by a great many en-
gines at once.
"That little round house at the right is the WORLD'S TICKET OFFICE.
You can go in there and buy a ticket that will take you to almost any
place in the world.
"The next house is the JUDGES' HALL. There is where the Judges
will meet together, to say who has made the best things, and who shall
receive the greatest reward of merit.
"That little house without windows is the PIIOTOGRAPIIC GALLERY;
and the large one across the street is the GOVERNMENT BUILDING. In this
they have everything that belongs to WAR, and to the Government.
"Now I'll tell you first about the SHOE AND LEATHER BUILDING. In
this they show how leather is made; and when they have got it done,
they make shoes and boots of it by machines. Here are all the work-
men, sewing, cutting, pegging, and everything by machines, even to
making the pegs, and thread, and nails. All the people have to do is
to hold the shoe while the machine does the work. They had raw skins,
just as they come off of the cow, or calf, or goat; and they had piles

Uncle yohn's Centennial Story.

of bark off of trees; and they had some Sumach, such as grows in
our lane; but they say their Sumach comes from Germany. They had
all these things to show how leather was made. This was out in their
large room; but in the small rooms they had beautiful shoes of all
kinds. The Shoe and Leather Building is called a small house; but it
is as large as a whole square of houses would be, if they were all made
into one house.
"When I get done telling you about my visit, I will cut pieces of
paper to show you the size of each house. The smallest size I will
call the size of our house, and then make all the others in the same
way--only I will make each one just as much larger than the other
as the next larger house is bigger than the first one-and so on, until
I make them all. You can then put the largest one down first, and
the next smaller one down on that, until you come to the one the size
of our house. This you will put on top of the lot, and then you can
see how many times larger than our house the smallest one is, and
how much larger the biggest is than the smallest house. *
"Well, as I was telling you about the shoes, I must tell you, too,
that they had old-fashioned shoes of all kinds, and some wooden shoes,
made long ago. But one of the queerest things there, was a machine to
make lasts with. It was in there, I think. Anyhow, it turned shoe
lasts and gun stocks, ox yokes and wagon spokes, and axe handles,
and all kinds of crooked things. It was first made by a man named
BLANCIIARD. If they could take your foot off and put it into the
machine, the man said it would make one just like it, out of wood -
corns, crooked toe-nails and all- and I guess it would; for I saw him
put in a wooden foot with .lumps all over it, and it made another one
just like it.
"Now I think I've told you enough about this building, and I'll let
Katie tell about what there is in MACHINERY HALL."
"Me, Willie? why I can't tell about machines! It's a boy's place to
tell about them; ain't it, Benny?"
"Well yes, I guess so. Girls don't know much about machines and
swings. If they have nice dolls when they are little, and nice dresses
when they're big, they don't care about anything else, so father says."
"I guess, Benny, if your father had heard a lady describe a wonder-
ful machine, as I did, he wouldn't have said that. I stood there, and
the lady walked up to it with a man, and went on and told him all
about it; and nobody said anything to her till she started to go away,
See p. 31.

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

when a strange gentleman who had been listening asked her if she
had ever seen the machine before. She said No, and went away; and
then the man who had the machine told us that she was the very first
person who had understood it. Now I think Katie can do as well as
she did. Anyhow, she can try."
"No, Willie; you'll have to tell us, or else ask Uncle John to do
it. I know if I had gone through all the halls with you, I could tell
all about them; for when I went to mill with DANIEL, last summer, I
could tell everything about it. There were the millstones and the eleva-
tors, the smut-machines and the bolters and packers and bran-dusters;
and there was the saw-mill, and the planing-machine, and lots of other
things, besides the great water-wheel that turned them all round. I
told father about them, and he said it was just as good as he could
do."
"Well, Benny, you know I've been to that saw-mill, and seen all
the things you tell about, and I thought I knew just as much as
anybody else; but when I was in the Machinery Hall, and saw all
those wheels and shafts and machines spinning round, I felt as if I
knew nothing, and had never seen machines before; for it looked to
me as if the mill was my humming-top, and Machinery Hall was
the mill.
"But here comes Papa. Let's ask him to tell us about the Hall.
He can make us understand it first-rate.
"Uncle John, won't you tell us all about Machinery Hall? Wil-
lie says he can't do it."
"Willie tells the truth, Benny, when he says he can't do it; and
there is an excellent reason why he cannot. Machinery Hall and its
annexes contain the wisdom of the world from its earliest history, so
far as man has observed the operation of natural laws, and applied
them to profitable uses. In it are gathered together and exhibited, all
the latest and best ways of doing everything. The wisest man in the
world could'nt go through that Hall and understand and explain all its
contents to you, without a Guide for each class of things in it.
"Every machine is made on some theory peculiar to itself, or its
class: When I tell you that the cat, the lynx, the panther, the leopard,
the tiger and the lion, are all of the cat kind, you will understand what
I 4nean when I speak of classes of machinery. They may be of one
kind or class like the cat kind, for instance and still be as different
as the animals which belong to the cat kind. Now there are hardly

-Pi7~ Y.
"

n

~1

I ir

- -
--

flA-

-~L -~i

EASTERN END OF MACHINERY HALL.
This Front is 370 feet wide, and 78 feet high; the length is 1,402 feet. Like the Main Hall, it has an irregular floor-plan. It has a floor space of 14 acres.

" 1"4

i
1_.;

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

two men in the world who do the same thing in the same way; and
therefore they do very much as children do, when they run to their
parents to have them decide who, or what, or which is right in a dis-
puted game or question. So these people, who differ so much in their
notions as to how things ought to be done, have come here and brought
their machines and contrivances, to show the world their way of doing
them, and have it decided whose way is the best, the quickest, and
the cheapest.
Out of this world-wide wish to be thought right, and to have the
very best machine for doing a particular thing, has grown this great
Exhibition. If it were not for the desire which is always uppermost
in every noble breast, to do something to be proud of, the world
would not be what it is to-day. We should have none of the conve-
niences and comforts of life, and might still be living like savages
in the forest, and eating the wild fruits of the earth. But should
any one attempt to describe singly the machines and processes which
produce all the things we daily need and use, he would sit down to
a task that would last him a lifetime; therefore I shall not attempt
to tell you about Machinery Hall, and you must excuse me if I only
give you a glimpse of the most familiar things in it.
"Now, if in passing among the whirring shafts, belts, and wheels
which everywhere surround us in this vast HALL OF MOVING WONDERS,
I could call all the parts of the machinery and its operations by their
proper names, and you could understand them, it would be very easy
for me to do so. I once wrote a letter to a friend, in which I described
a new machine. I used only forty words in the whole letter, and yet
he understood all about it. I afterwards described it in a newspaper,
for people who do not understand what we call technical terms, and it
took a whole column to explain it; and even then there were hundreds
of men who read it, but could not understand it. So, you see, if I
should attempt to describe the machinery to you, I should only waste
my time. However, I will try to give you something of an idea of the
great STEAM-ENGINE.
"Look at the picture of Machinery Hall, and in the middle of it,
under the high part, is the great Steam-engine that sets all the main
lines of Shafting in motion, and they make the separate machines turn
round. This Engine, when you first look at it, reminds you of a large
letter A. On the top of it is a kind of a see-saw -there are two of
them, in fact-so that when one goes up, the other goes down. They

call it a Beam Engine. All under the floor of the Hall are passage-
ways through which run great shafts. These again give power to the
shafting on the ceiling, through the eight towers-one at each sec-
tion of the central, or high part of the building. This is done by the

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

great leather belts that seem to spring out of the floor to the shaft-
ing. The Boilers that make steam are in the yard, and the Steam-
pipes and about half of the Engine are under the floor. This is called
a Low-pressure Engine.
"Now, I guess you won't care to have me tell you about all the
different kinds of Engines which we saw there-Engines of all sizes
and kinds, from the great one I have just told you about, to one so
small it can sit on a five-cent nickel- so it will be useless to go over
them. I really can't see how I can interest you in the machinery, be-
cause we must first know all about a machine, or at least very nearly
so, before we can take much interest in it; and since you children
know so little about machines, I won't attempt to explain any of them
to you, but will only say, in a general way, that there was machinery
there for all known purposes for which it can be used.
"Machinery Hall makes a very good show, and is well worth the
whole expense of a trip to see it. In arranging it, they did just as
they had had to do with the Main Hall. They drew a map of the floor,
and then set apart a certain space for every nation. Then this was di-
vided up into smaller spaces, so that every one had room to show their
things; and then they all made their places look just as nice as they
could. Of course, they had Sewing-Machines, and Knitting-Machines, and
Printing-Presses, and many other machines that you hear talked about,
and hundreds that it would be hard to find a name for. So you must
be satisfied when I tell you that everybody thinks their machine is the
best, and will. always think so, even if the others should get the
Reward of Merit.
"Now we will bid good-bye to the noise; and yet I feel as if I
would just as soon as not tell you more about our visit, if Willie and
Katie say so."
"Well, Pa, we do say so; and we hope you'll tell them about the
Grounds, so they will understand the view from the High Bank east
of the Schuylkill river perfectly."
"Well, then, when we passed out of the back end of the Machinery
Hall, we came across a little STEAM RAILROAD. The cars had just
stopped, and in we all got, to take a ride. It was like a Fairy car,
and it took us all over the Grounds, about three miles and a half. We
passed among all the buildings, and all the way it looked like a fine
city. We saw only two houses that looked alike, and those were the

Uncle 7ohn's Centennial Story.

Main Hall and the Machinery Hall--the two we have just been talk-
ing alout.
"We saw many queer-looking, old-fashioned buildings, that have
been built to show what kind of houses people used to live in a long
time ago. The English have built three of the kind of houses which
they used to live in when Elizabeth was Queen of England. They all
have little bits of panes of glass in the windows, and are glazed with
what they call a lead sash. One of them has a fire-place in every
room, and the roof of another is covered with red tiles made of clay,
which are used in place of shingles. The houses are not all alike, but
are made to show the different kinds used at that time. None of
them are so good as the houses built in this country by well-off
people.
Massachusetts and New Hampshire have each built old-fashioned
houses, to show how much they have learned about house-building in
one hundred years.
"The State of New York has a very nice house, and so have many
of the other States.
"Ohio has built its house out of stones from different places in the
State. There are red, and yellow, and almost white stones in it. Each
of the window-frames and door-ways is of a different kind and color of
stone. Each layer of stone, as the walls are built up, is all alike; but
the layers are of different colors, except in the tower, which is all of
one color.
"New Jersey has a very pretty house. It is covered all over with
peach-colored tiles, with black tile ornaments in the tower, and makes a
very showy appearance.
Some of the houses built by the States look like temples, and some
like barns; but they are all used for showing what they can grow on
their farms, or what they are doing in their schools. At least half of
them are little State Fairs.
Spain has built a little six-square, one-story house; and alongside
of it Chili has put up a small pavilion, like a summer-house.
"Just in this part of the grounds, Japan has built a house. It was
all made in Japan, and then packed up in paper and matting, and
brought here. The Japanese workmen came with it, to put it up; and
while they were doing it they were visited and watched by hundreds of
people every day. Although they are the oldest nation of people which

16'

Uncle okhn's Centennial Story.

attend the Fair, they are very simple in their way of living and dress, and
very odd in all their ways of doing their work. Here is a picture of
their pretty house.

ssaaK^ -' lil'-ii '~ gurr^Ti'y~ll "- }

,r ; ,,' .. .'. ,",- ^.V -
7 .'- -

SOUTHERN FRONT OF JAPANESE HOUSE

"You see that it is an odd-looking hen-coop; but it has the merit
of being very well built. The roof is made of a bluish tile, and pointed
up with white cement all around the edges. This makes the roof look like
a picture-frame. All the joints in the work are good, and they have a
way of nailing up everything so as not to show the nail-heads. Over the
door are some birds and dragons, beautifully carved in wood. A sports-
man has wounded a young bird, and, as it falls, the old mother-bird is
flying down to catch it. Above this there is another bird that looks like
a dove, flying straight down to the ground, as if to help the wounded bird.
I do not know exactly what it is meant to show us. It is what is called
allegorical-that is, it tells some of their old, and, to them, well-known
stories.

Uncle 7ohn's Centennial Story.

"A little way from here is the great Marble Fountain. This was built
by the Sons of Temperance belonging to the Catholic churches, and cost
them a large sum of money. There is a good picture of it on the next page.
"In the centre, on the pile of rock, stands Moses; and the water is
pouring from the rock which was dry before he smote it with his rod,
as the Lord had told him to do. On the four corners stand statues of
FATHER MATTIIEW, CHARLES CARROLL, COMMODORE BARRY, and ARCHBISHOP
CARROLL, and out of the block on which each of them stands, four streams
of water flow out of the mouths of lions into marble basins-making in all
sixteen drinking fountains.
"On these grounds all around us are private buildings for showing
private goods. Near by the Fountain are two for showing stoves, and
another for printing this book;* and a little way back of that, one for
making glass; and so on all around.
"We will now go to the AGRICULTURAL HALL, and see what they have
in that.

i------- --
V

As seen from the Park Drive on George's Hill. This Hall is 0 x 800 feet, of an irregular ground-plan, covering an area of about 10 acres.

"You will see by the picture that it is not like the other buildings,
and only half as large as the Main Hall. It is big enough, however, to
cover a good-sized garden farm.
See page 27.

"You know what agricultural means, I suppose. It means farming,
or that which belongs to it; so that you will easily understand what you
see in this Hall. But Willie and Katie had better tell you what they
can about it, because I have no time to stay any longer; but I will return."
Uncle John told us about some of the houses, but jumped away over
to Agricultural Hall without saying a word about the LADIES' PAVILION,
as they call it," said Benny.

ART GALLERY, OR MEMORIAL HALL.
Taken from the south-east, and showing the Front next to Main Hall. It is 860 x 10 feet, covering one and one-half acres.
The whole height to the top of the figure of Columbia is about 175 feet.

"That house," said Willie, "was built by the women of America, to
show what they can do to help build up a country. Once we were in
a Building where everything was so nice, and all who went there
were so well pleased, that I listened to find out about it. Then I heard
a man say, 'How did you dare to try to get all this ready, when you
had such a short time?' Now what do you think he said? He just
said, 'My wife helped me, by her cheerfulness and kind words of encour-
agement.' And so I just thought how much work there is in this great
Fair that never would have been done, if it had not been for some-
body's mother or daughter. The Woman's Pavilion would not hold
half of it, if each part of it was put just where it belonged; and, as

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

I thought about it, I looked around to see if this was the place where
the WOMAN'S RIGHTERS put all their things; but I didn't see anything:
so I just asked a lady that belonged there about it, and she said, 'Boy,
go 'long!' She didn't say it nice; so I thought I wouldn't ask any more
questions, but go right on about my looking.
This Pavilion is one story high, and shaped like a cross; and it is
full of all kinds of things that women make--crochet, and tatting, and
embroidery, and needle-work, and worsted-work, and books, and pictures,
and many other things. Some are in glass cases, and some hang on the
walls; but it looks real nice, and a great many people go in and out
in a day.
Around this part of the Fair ground are a great many places in which
to get something to eat. They call them RESTAURANTS. Thousands get
their dinners there every day. There is one so large that five thousand
people can sit down to the table at once, and all get waited on in a
short time. I was told this; but I can't see how so many could sit
down at one table. They are called the GERMAN, and SOUTHERN, and
YANKEE, and FRENCH restaurants; and there are a good many others
which I don't remember.
Among the restaurants there is one house built like the first houses
are built by the first people who go into a new country. It is built of
round logs with the bark of the tree still on them. This is in the woods,
like; and along down by it there runs a little brook, across which are
some high bridges for the people to walk over, which makes the grounds
look very pretty about there."
"But there comes Uncle John! Uncle John, do tell us about Agri-
cultural Hall now, will you ? "
"Why yes, I will, if you are not satisfied yet."
"Oh, we have been running around the grounds looking for you, and
waiting for you to come back again."
"Well, then, I'll tell you what I can.
"In the first place, the Hall has ten acres in it. Remember that is just
the size of this Hall. In this building we can see all the different pro-
ducts of the earth, and all kinds of machines to take care of them with,
as well as to plant them. Of course I can't begin to tell you what each
one is for, or who has sent it here; nor could you understand me if I
should try to explain them: for you must bear in mind that improve-
ment in the things that grow is very slow, and man must wait on the

they were wanted the most, that, to keep from
losig what had been raised, all kinds of labor-saving tools and machines
have been made, and are now brought here to be tried and tested, to
see which best deserves the Reward of Merit. It is thought that hait
will be worth a good deal of money to the one who receives it; and
therefore there will be much jealousy among all the exhibitors, until
this reward has been given out by the judges. It will not be a great
medal, having no other meaning than that the winner of it was an Exhib-
itor at the Fair; but along with it there will be a Certificate, giving a
complete description of whatever its owner may have exhibited for com-
petition, and setting forth all the merits of the Exhibit.
The Commissioners think they have a wise set of men as judges. They
are chosen from nearly all the different nations represented at the Fair, and
it is expected that, as a general thing, their Awards will be satisfactory.

Uncle Jokzn's Centennial Story.

Now, my children, I will try to tell you about the HORTICULTURAL
and the MEMORIAL HALLS, the pictures of which you will see on the
twentieth and twenty-second pages.
"Both of these places are filled with objects that have no value,
except the pleasure they can give those who see them. We should not
have them to look at, if it were not that the people have spare money to
buy such things with. They are what we call the luxuries of life. We
often buy things we do not want, because we think they are pretty, and
that is enough; and just as soon as the owner sells them to us, he
makes two more just like them--one for our neighbor whom he thinks
will envy us, and covet the new thing, and another for some other man
who has got more money than he has use for at once. And so they
have kept on doing, until all over the world there are hundreds of
Libraries, Conservatories, and Galleries filled with works of art.
"Not only so, but the subjects for painting and sculpture are very
scarce. If we stop and think over all the people and objects worthy of
the sculptor's skill or the painter's pencil, there could not enough of
them be found to keep a dozen artists at work; but there are hundreds
who get a living by sculpturing and painting fables, or imaginary peo-
ple, things, and places; and these are the pictures and sculptures that
I am to tell you about, and help you to understand.
"A great many of these subjects are taken from heathen worship, and
never had any existence; and a great many are from the fancies of
poets and painters. There is, perhaps, one in a dozen that can be
traced back to a real being; but how near it looks like that being, no
mortal can tell. If you had two or three dolls that were ever so homely,
you could tell which was the best-looking doll; but if you had only one,
you would call it homely. You would never think of calling it hand-
some, because you could not compare it with another. So, you see,
when I look at those pictures and sculptures, I cannot tell their real
merit; but I can say that they please me, on account of their color
or form, or because the subject is one that I have often heard of, but
have never seen before; and so I am pleased generally with all that
I see. But when it comes to the real merit of any work of art, it can
only be determined by comparing it with the original. And since
this is impossible, because there has never been any original except
in the fancy of some one, it will not be any part of my story to tell
you how well anything has been done: so you must excuse all of my

Uncle Johkn's Centennial Story.

big words, and let me tell you what you can really understand about
these two Halls.
"In the first place, both of these Halls are expected to remain, and
to be used by the city after the Exhibition is closed. In the HORTICUL-
TURAL HALL will be gathered all the odd, rare, and beautiful plants, fruits
and flowers-the wonders of the forest and the jungle, the field and
the garden. This is just what is in it now. The Hall has over an
acre of ground in it; and this is all filled by the plant, fiuit and
flower families. It is built like any other good conservatory, only it is
much larger. The inside is built up in arches of white, red, and very
dark blue bricks. The arches are called Moorish. The roof is glass,
and the fame is made of iron. The whole upper portion is beautifully
painted. I think it is a very fine building, and I was highly delighted
with all I saw there.
The picture of MEMORIAL HALL, on page 20, shows you that it is a very
different kind of a building from the one I have just told you about. It is
built of granite. The eagles and statues on the top are made of zinc.
The purpose of this Hall is to preserve the memorial objects of States and
Cities. When the Fair is over, it will be like KATIE'S and CARRIE'S keep-
sake boxes-filled with things of great value to them, but not worth
a cent to sell. But while the Exhibition lasts, this, with another
Hall as large as it is, will be filled with the finest works of art.
"Now, if I have used big words, I cannot help it, and you will
have to find out what they mean. I shall let WILL and KATIE tell you
of the wonders they have seen. I have told you about the Halls; but
children can do better in telling of the things that please little chil-
dren."
"Now, UNCLE JOHN has spoiled my story! I was going to tell you
all about those Halls," said KATIE. "But I can tell you all about the
flowers and plants.
"Well, when we went in at the side where the flowers are, it was
crowded with ladies, and they said it was beautfiul! After listening
a little while, I found that each lady had something at home like what
they saw there; but when I looked down the passage between the
rows of plants, I thought I had never seen anything so splendid! There
were orange and lemon trees, with the oranges and lemons growing

Uncle yohn's Centennial Story. 25

on them; and there were other fruits that I did not know the name of;
and there were great plants, with leaves like fans-some of them as
high as PA'S head! There were four of these long halls, like, and in
them were what they call tropical plants-that is, plants that have come
from hot countries, and have to be kept under glass, so they won't
freeze in cold weather. The whole floor was just like a great garden
filled with flowers and plants with beautifully colored leaves. I could
have stayed all day, and looked at them, but I had to go with PA and
WILLIE.

"After we went out, we crossed over a high bridge-so high up
that we were among the limbs of the trees. This bridge was over a
little brook which runs through the Grounds, and looked nice and
cool away down among the people who filled the walks and seats.

"When we got over this bridge, we saw a large, square house, not
very high, but without any windows. On the top of it were a good
many little houses, all with glass sides. We went around to the front,
and found it was a PICTURE GALLERY, full of all sorts of people who
were looking, and pointing, and talking, and reading in little books
which I soon found out were Guides, to tell where each picture came
from, who painted it, and what it was about. PA bought one, and
then we began to read and look just like the other people; and when
we came out, I think we were all jutst alike. And, do you know, I
thought of the fun we used to have at home, when we would all make
a pig on the slate, with our eyes shut, and PA would write under each
one-Katie's pig, Carrie's pig, Bennie's pig, and Willie's pig-and then
under the one he made, Pa's pig; and none of them looked the least
bit like a pig! But it was real fun! And that's the way the little
book read. There were ever so many pictures almost alike; and the
book said, St. Peter, by MORRISON; and St. Peter, by JoiNsoN; just as if
there was ever so many St. Peters! I said it was like our pigs on the
slate; and PA told me to hush, for people would hear me.

"Then there were ever so many holes cut through the walls, and
gilt frames put up like windows; and somehow or other I could see
away up in the mountains through some of them, and down by the
rivers through others, and some of them had real people in them. PA
said they were only painted, but I don't know how it could be.

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

"Then we went into MEMORIAL HALL; and this had pictures, and
marble and bronze statues all over it, and a great crowd of people filled
every nook and corner of it. But when I had got out of the passage-
way into what they called the Dome a great, high room without
any light, except from the top--there I stood still, and looked for
ever so long, and you don't know how funny I felt; and then tears
came into my eyes, and just ran down my cheeks of themselves, and
I didn't care one bit who saw them.
There was a beautiful lady standing close by me, and she said to the
gentleman who was with her: 'See what a tribute of praise this inno-
cent child pays to our honored artists! How many y;,irs of toil would
these simple tears repay to many of those whose works adorn these walls,
could they but see them! They never had such a reward for their labor
during their lives; and, after years of trial and of toil, many of them have
sunk into unknown graves. I have often thought that this seeming
neglect of their merits has been because they have painted for the future;
and I feel, when I walk these galleries, that I am in the presence of the
work of inspired hands; for how else could they reach forward so many
generations, and stir the tender feelings of a little child like this? And
yet the artists of to-day are as much neglected as were those of the past,
in their day.'
After this lady went away, I wondered what she meant, but I thought
about it afterwards; and it must be that artists are treated just like
other people; for I know PA never says, There, Katie, that's a good girl!
when I get a good lesson, or do anything that is hard. It must be that
they don't think about it until they are gone away, or are dead. I know
that after Mrs. JONES died, everybody remembered something good that
she had done for some one else; but they forgot to say anything about it
before she died!
"Oh! I forgot that I was telling you about the pictures and statues,
and how lovely they were. I would try to tell you all about them;
but I don't see how I can, for even when I was looking at them, I
didn't understand them. All I knew was that they looked as if
everything was real, and not paintings and marble. Pa, won't you
tell them? I can't tell any more."
"I think you have done very well, Katie; and I will now answer
Benny's question. He has asked what all this fuss was about, this
particular year; and I suppose I shall have to tell you.

"This is called the CENTENNIAL YEAR, because it is just one hundred
years, on the Fourth of July, 1876, since the Declaration of Independence.
Now I shall have to tell you what that means; and, to make it
plain to you, I shall have to ask you all to be very still and attentive.
"When this country was first settled, it was by different nations.
There were some from England, and some from Holland, and other
countries; but they were all living a great way from each other, like
large families apart. Their numbers increased every year, until each
family made a large town. At last they all came together into one
large family, and called England the Mother Country. They were not
obliged to do this. It was done of their own accord. There was a
kind of a promise to stick close together. This was mostly to keep
the Indians from killing them all. They joined together, and sent
soldiers to keep the savages away from their farms and their homes.
After a while, when they had grown to be such large families, England
sent men to be Governors of the Colonies, as they then called them.
There were thirteen of them, in all.
"Now it happened that some of these Governors had laws made
in England for the colonists to go by, in buying and selling things.
They wanted them to help pay the cost of keeping the King and his
family in England. But our grandfathers would not pay anything; and
the King tried to make them; but they would not pay one cent. Then
they sent soldiers over here, to make them pay. This made our grand-
fathers very angry; and they all came to PHILADELPIIA and had what
they called a Congress. All the Colonies- thirteen of them--agreed to
do just as this meeting should say. Well, after they had talked about
it a good many days, they agreed to write a letter to the King of
England, and tell him they were going to keep house for themselves,
and that he must take his soldiers home, or they would make them go.
"In this letter they told him how badly he had treated them, and
that they would not have anything to do with him any more, except
as a stranger. This letter was signed by all the people at the meet-
ing, on the Fourth of July, 1776; and they called it TIE DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. So you see it will
be one hundred years, on the Fourth of July, 1876, since this was
done. This is called a century; and out of this comes the word CEN-
TENNIAL.
"Now I hope I have made it plain to you why we 'make such a

Uncle John's Centennial Slory.

fuss,' as Benny says, 'on this particular year.' But this does not tell
why we should also have a Fair.
"When our grandfathers had sent this letter to the King, he was
very angry, and sent a great many hundred soldiers, to try to make
us break up housekeeping. But after many years of hard fighting and
great suffering, the King was obliged to take his soldiers home, and let
us go to keeping house on our own account. Well, it was very hard
work at first. Many of our dishes were broken, and our pots had been
cracked; our clothes were worn out, and almost everything we had was
spoiled, or stolen by these soldiers. But our good grandfathers had
been so long without good clothes or housekeeping things, that they
learned how to get along without them, until they could make them
themselves. And so year after year they kept on making all kinds
of things, until they got to be very proud of them, and thought they
would like to bring them all together, and invite the people from all
over the world to come and see what they had done in one hundred
years. And they told them to bring their best things, and see if we
could not make just as good things as they could; although some of
the nations who have brought things are a good many hundred years
older than we are.
"Now, my children, you must not forget that nearly all the nice
things we have in our houses for pleasure and comfort are new. You
can see that I am not a very old man; but I can remember when
there were no steamboats, nor railroads, nor telegraphs, nor cook-stoves,
nor sewing-machines, nor friction-matches, nor a great many other things.
So you must not find any fault, if we should be like little children,
proud over all our nice things in the Fair.
"I don't know that there is much more to say about this Centen-
nial, unless we go into all the particulars; and then it would be a
very tiresome story. When ten years have gone by-if you should live
so long -it will then be a good time to read about the CENTENNIAL Ex-
IIIITION, and what was in it, and the lessons it teaches. This, you
must remember, will be a year that will form a fixed point of time
from which to count events for many years, or perhaps centuries of
years, to come. The history of nations is of daily growth, like plants.
We cannot tell anything about their future; but I hope our people
may enjoy, for many long years to come, the same peace which marks
1876 as a memorable period in the history of the world."

Uncle yokn's Centennial Story.

UNCLE JOHN," said WILLIE, "we are all very glad that you have had
so much patience with us, and told us so many things about this Fair.
I know my lessons will be easier to learn, and I can tell the boys and
girls in our class almost anything they ask me, except one thing, and
that is a puzzle; for when UNCLE JOHN says he does not know what
anything is, then it must be a big puzzle."
"Why, what is it, WILLIE, that is such a puzzle to you? I thought
I answered all your questions."
Oh no, UNCLE JOHN! Don't you remember when we were all upset
in the cars, because they stopped so -uiilenly, and everybody asked what
was the matter, and nobody could tell-not even UNCLE JOHN?"
"Ah, ILLIE, that is now a very simple thing. People in railroad
cars always have a fear that something will happen to them, and, as
they ride along, every little thing frightens them, and keeps them con-
stantly uneasy. To prevent this, there have been hundreds (I might say)
of different contrivances made, and almost every great Fair brings them
together; but up to this time none of them seemed to meet every
difficulty.
"When this Centennial Exhibition was first talked of, one of the
greatest puzzles was not only how to get the people to it and take them
home again without killing or maiming a great many of them, but how
to get rid of this uneasiness, and to give them assurance that they would
not be injured while traveling. Now, as the Pennsylvania Railroad had
a greater interest in this matter than any other Company, they con-
*structed and put into operation what they call a BLOCK-SIGNAL-that is,
at irregular distances from each other, are stations for watchmen who
have charge of signals to stop the trains, and keep them at a safe and proper
distance apart. They are so arranged that if all the watchmen on all
their roads were killed instantly, it would be impossible for any two
trains to run into each other. Every train would stop at the signal-
station, just as ours did. In this case, I afterwards learned that the
watchman fell in a fit, and let go of the danger-signal just as the train
came up to it. After waiting awhile, they went into the station and
found him lying there insensible. The conductor telegraphed to the next
Block-Station, and found all right. We then went on as usual.
"Now, you must not jump at conclusions, and say that the officers
of the Pennsylvania Railroad are a very humane set of people. It is not
that-it is selfishness. To establish confidence in their roads, they

Uncle John's Centennial Story.

iniiit. not hurt anybody. The Managers are like other men, and do not
like to pay damages, or destroy their property by collisions; and therefore,
over the whole of their roads appear these Block-Signals, which make
traveling just as safe as if the engineer's eyes were able to see the whole
length of all their roads-to see as well around the curves as if they were
perfectly straight-and to do this as certainly in the darkness as in the
broad daylight.
"Now, let us come to a close; and, if you will wait patiently, I will
tell you all about these things in my next visit."